The invention is in the field of flashlight retaining devices, and particularly those that retain flashlights to the forearm or other body part of the user.
Anyone who has worked on anything in the dark has encountered the problem of wishing he or she had three hands, so that one hand could hold the flashlight. Often, the person puts the butt end of the flashlight in his or her mouth to free the hands to work on the engine, the wiring, the fuse box, etc., in the dark. Because this is a common problem and no one yet has come up with a way of generating three hands, a number of prior art devices have been conceived to solve this problem. The following mechanical clip gadgets have been invented which use some kind of clip to engage the flashlight:
U.S. Pat. No. 1,200,403 issued Oct. 3, 1916 on a HOLDER FOR ELECTRIC FLASHLIGHTS;
U.S. Pat. No. 1,268,622 issued Jun. 4, 1918 for a SEARCH LIGHT HOLDER;
U.S. Pat. No. 1,318,850 issued Oct. 14, 1919 on an ELECTRIC FLASHLIGHT HOLDER;
U.S. Pat. No. 1,320,934 issued Nov. 14, 1919 for a FLASH LIGHT ATTACHMENT;
U.S. Pat. No. 1,769,241 issued Jul. 1, 1930 for a WRIST ATTACHMENT FOR FLASHLIGHTS;
U.S. Pat. No. 1,923,962 issued Aug. 22, 1933 for a FLASH LIGHT;
U.S. Pat. No. 2,024,281 issued Dec. 17, 1935 for a LIGHT.
These devices are characterized by having metal clips and are thus conductive and less flexible in adapting to different-sized flashlights than would be needed to accommodate the variety of flashlight sizes that are in common use today. Conductive clips are of course a major hazard when working in a fuse box or otherwise working or wiring, which is a typical activity that is done when no lights are on and in the hope that the main circuit breaker is open.
Three other patents disclose combination flashlights and wrist straps developed to solve the same problem. These are the following:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,112,889 issued Dec. 3, 1963 for a WRIST SUPPORTED FLASHLIGHT;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,425,600 issued Jan. 10, 1984 on an ELECTROLUMINESCENT WRIST CLAMP FOR NIGHT VISION ENVIRONMENT;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,788,631 issued Nov. 29, 1988 for a WRIST MOUNTED FLASHLIGHT.
Although these devices could be adequate for specialized purposes, they nonetheless are not adaptable for use with different kinds of flashlights and flashlights that the user might have around the premises in which he or she might favor using in particular circumstances.
There is a need for a modern retainer device, taking advantage of the qualities of modern materials and especially elastic fabrics, which is adaptable to engage virtually any flashlight to the forearm or wrist and which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and is fabricated with a minimal number of conductive parts.